>> rick: welcome to a brand-new hour inside america's news quarters. i'm rick folbaum. >> arthel: i'm arthel neville. topping the news this hour, fema under fire, thousands of storm victims angry at the government's recovery response. now taking matters into their own hands. >> rick: plus, news of general david petraeus' bombshell resignation continuing to send shock waves through the country today. but will it have an impact on the search for answers behind the deadly terrorist attack in libya? >> arthel: and we saw how vital it was to have one of these around in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. what you need to know before purchasing a generator. "consumer reports" here with some of the best buys on the

market. >> arthel: first, we begin with the mounting anger over the federal response to hurricane sandy. it's been more than a week after the super storm hit, but for hundreds of thousands of people in the northeast, there has been very little signs of progress. now survivors in one of new york city's hardest hit areas are taking matters into their own hands. anna kooiman joins us from staten island. you're standing in front of a big pile of trash, it looks like, an anna, which is poem he's belongings. >> tons of trash. it might look like rubble to you and me, but it's the lives of people here. crushed behind me where one of six dumping stations here. we have been watching as the debris has been piling up for nearly two weeks. that nor'easter last week did stall some of the progress. but crews really have been making some headway. volunteer groups have filling the gap. they say the federal government has left behind. we've also seen makeshift donation centers popping up throughout the region.

volunteers, they have been going door to door, helping residents and checking up on them. they've been sorting donated goods. they've been delivering supplies and even cleaning up. let's hear of the volunteers. >> my neighbors are hurting. how can you stay home and watch tv? >> they've been trying to help people, but everything is kind of not organized. they try to be helpful, but so far we don't have any actual help here. >> the new york fema says 162,000 applications already coming in. $276 million in the hands currently of new yorkers following the storm. 26 disaster recovery centers or drc's are in place and more are coming, they say, filled with food, water, blankets, phone and internet access, as well as information. >> how long will fema be here? >> 'til it's done. 'til normalcy is restored and then we'll end up processing any challenges that that the city and the state had.

>> how long will it take back to get back to normalcy? >> i wish it was tomorrow, but it's not going to be. >> a week, months? >> weeks, definitely. >> reminiscent of the 1970s gas rationing and police monitoring the pumps in new york seems to be helping somewhat with the hours long lines. the odd-even license plate calendar day system was put into place yesterday. fema asked us to help get the word out. a phone number to call for fema for disaster assistance is 1-800-621-3362. arrest they will, back to you. >> arthel: a little later in the show, we'll talk about more help for those people who are suffering so profoundly out there because trust me, i know their lives have been impacted profoundly. i know it's dark right now, you've been there all day. have you had a chance to talk to some of the residents? have they been sifting through trying to save something of

their lives? >> we absolutely have and the woman that you just heard from, mentioning she felt like the federal government was trying to help, but unorganized, we're going to be hearing more from her. she's one of hundreds of homes here on staten island red tagged, means it's unsafe for her to even go inside. they're trying to decide, do you stay now and try to ward off looters or do you leave and run away and never come back? we'll hear from her later. >> arthel: we look forward to that because it's a tricky question. you think that it's an easy answer, but it's not really. thank you so much. >> rick: 12 days after sandy and hundreds of thousands of people as you've been hearing, are still in the dark and frustration reaching a boiling point. a group of sandy victims on long island are protesting over a lack of power there and what it's doing to their neighborhood. >> people need to know that? devastated. flowers. you smell fire. you smell gas. you smell oil.

trees and happiness. utter devastation. we need answers. >> rick: local lawmakers facing growing pressure. peter doocy with the latest on restoration efforts from washington. >> 3% of new jersey and 2% of the state of new york are still in the dark today, almost two weeks after super storm sandy passed through. it was a storm everyone knew was coming, but the largest power company on long island, the long island power authority, is being blamed for poor preparation. >> i don't believe what they did was adequate. i don't believe it was right. i believe part of it is the system design and part of it is just their performance and part of it is the fact that these utilities are a monday knopffully. >> at first the government owned lipa reportedly asked other utility companies for just 700 workers to help them restore power. but they ended up needing 10,000. the company lipa contracted to help them clean up sandy's mess

said they're doing extremely well. >> we are progressing very well based on the unprecedented damage on the storm. >> i am very comfortable with how we performed on this restoration. >> not comfortable with their performance, republican congressman peter king. he wrote a letter to president obama saying i urge you to personally intervene, to insure that all appropriate federal assets and authorities are fully deployed to the impacted region. king and democratic long island congressman steve israel want the army corps of engineers dispatched. he said they can go to baghdad and kabul to turn on the lights, then it's time for them to finish the job the utility company has not been able to. rick? >> rick: peter doocy in washington, thanks. >> arthel: we are now learning that homeland security secretary janet napolitano is scheduled to travel to new york city's hardest hit staten island tomorrow. she's going to meet with local and state officials and get a firsthand look at the response there.

president obama will make his first post-election visit to the new york city area on thursday. the white house says he will meet with storm victims, local officials, as well as first responders. >> rick: those still struggling after sandy are getting some help from folks who went through a similar situation in new orleans. just today, an amtrak train arriving in newark, new jersey filled with supplies gathered by victims of hurricane katrina. the box car was full of storm relief items, including batteries, diapers, dog food, and will go to residents in hoboken, new jersey, and other hard hit areas nearby. as the relief efforts continue, the will the weather continue? maria molina live with more on that. hi, maria. >> the weather has not really been cooperating a whole lot lately. we had the nor'easter that dumped some snow across portions of the northeast and those areas that were impacted very hard by sandy and very cold temperatures. over the next couple of days, we are going to start to notice a pattern shift with temperatures starting to warm up, especially during the nighttime hours.

critical hours when temperatures drop below the freezing mark. take a look at sunday night, 48 degrees will be the low. by monday, a low of 50 degrees. a lot better than what we've been experiencing the last couple of nights. then tuesday into wednesday, we do have a front that does arrive, pushing in much colder air and then the nighttime temperatures in atlantic city will be dropping into the 30s. not good news again as we head into tuesday and wednesday, and that's the story as well across staten island, new york, and also across portions of long island. that front right now is further off toward the west across portions of the midwest producing big-time temperature drops behind it. rapid city now at 19 degrees. 24 over in missoula. 33 in the city of denver. ahead of that system, very warm temperatures. ahead of cold fronts, we see the wind out of the south. warm air rising as far north as chicago. 66 degrees for your temperature out there right now. 73 in kansas city. and widespread upper 70s for dallas and also into portions of san antonio, across texas.

this frontal system is producing a lot of precipitation as well. cold side, we have very heavy snow, over a foot of snow. ahead of it with that warm air, we have showers and thunderstorms. some of these storms could produce severe weather. we're keeping a watch on that. severe thunderstorm watch in effect across southeastern portions of nebraska and also across portions of kansas. includes wichita. the storms could produce damaging wind gusts, large hail and even some isolated tornadoes. keep an eye on that. this area will expand to include portions of southern minnesota, in through parts of northern texas. pretty wide area here that we're looking at, the possibility of severe weather throughout the nighttime hours tonight and the rest of the evening and tomorrow as the storm continues to push eastward, we will be looking at severe weather possible across eastern portions of texas through parts of louisiana and arkansas. rick? >> rick: lot of activity. maria, thanks.

>> arthel: new details now emerging about the resignation of c.i.a. director david petraeus. fox news learning new information about the f.b.i.'s investigation into petraeus' e-mails revealing his affair with biographer. now molly henneberg with more. >> the f.b.i. discovered that his biographer, paul will broadwell, appear to do have access to general petraeus' personal e-mail account. and that's what led to the investigation that revealed the affair. now that petraeus has stepped down as c.i.a. director, he will not testify. this upcoming week at committee hearings on million. those hearings are investigating the benghazi, libya terrorist attack. some on capitol hill are making it clear they do want to hear from him in the future. >> i hope we don't have to subpoena a four star general and the former c.i.a. director. i hope he would come voluntarily. if he won't, he will be subpoenaed.

>> petraeus, who had been in charge of the c.i.a. since september 2011, had previously told lawmakers that the attack was in response to a protest over an anti-muslim video. we now know that's not true. and one gop congressman is asking questions about the timing of petraeus' departure. >> it comes days before he is set to testify before the house intelligence committee. and it really beg the question of what did the f.b.i. know and when did they know? how long did they sit on that information? i recall that general petraeus briefed the senate about what happened in benghazi. did he have this looming over his head? >> general petraeus, who has been married to his wife, holly, since 1974, called his extramarital affair, quote, unacceptable. and said it showed, quote, extremely poor judgment. a key democrat on the senate, diane feinstein, lamented the loss of petraeus at the c.i.a.

writing in a statement, quote, this is an enormous loss for our nation's intelligence community and our country. she goes on it say, i wish president obama had not accepted this resignation, but i understand and respect the decision. c.i.a. deputy director michael morell will head the c.i.a. for now until president obama decides on another director. arrest they will. >> arthel: thank you very much. i want to let everybody know that senator feinstein has more to say on all of this. she's chris wallace's guest tomorrow. an exclusive interview on fox news sunday. check your local listings for times. >> rick: in other news, exxon-mobil saying it wants out of a multi-billion-dollar oil project in iraq. in 2003, exxon was one of a number of big oil companies that flocked to iraq after the fall of saddam hussein. the company went there to revitalize the country's oil fields, but found it hard to make money doing it. instead, exxon has been looking north to the autonomous region

of kurdistan, a move that some say will more likely be more likely it create more tension between leaders of that disputed territory and the central governing body in iraq. >> arthel: president obama and house speaker jane have a massive task at hand. >> coming together to stop looming tax hikes and spending cuts that could plunge the nation back into recession. what both sides need to do to make this work is the question. >> 2013 should be the year to begin to solve our debt through tax reform and entitlement reform. together we should avert the fiscal cliff in a manner that assures 2013 finally is that year

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>> rick: thanks for spending part of your saturday with us. outrage growing among hurricane sandy victims in new york and new jersey. almost a quarter million customers still with no power almost two full weeks after the super storm. the results, all of them finally in. florida declaring president obama the winner of that state four days after the votes were cast. the vote extremely close. the president winning by less than 1% of the vote in that state.

4.3 magnitude quake in kentucky, felt for miles around. residents in eight other states also feeling the tremors. >> arthel: serious new questions over the government's ability to prevent the u.s. economy from going over the so-called fiscal cliff. in the last 24 hours, newly relie detectorred president barak obama and house speaker john boehner have both vowed that they will not let this happen. but is that even possible given today's decisive political climate? before we get into the discussion, let's first listen to what both men had to say. >> this is an opportunity for the president to lead. this is his moment. >> i'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges, but i refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. >> arthel: let's talk about it now. matt is the former white house political director under president george w. bush. alexis is the executive director

for the american values institute. good to see both of you. >> great to be here. >> arthel: very good. so let's say that each of you is going to broker this deal. tell me the concessions you would make and what would be the deal breakers. i'm going to go with you first, matt. >> okay. so i'm in the seat of power. i guess if i'm a republican, i want to make sure that if i'm going to negotiate a deal that i've got real concessions in terms of getting a comprehensive tax reform bill and we've got real concessions in terms of entitlements. if i'm a democrat, i'm thinking -- and i'm the president, i want to kick the can on this debt limit problem he has. the economy is growing so slow, we don't have enough to pay our bills. >> arthel: matt, let me jump in there. i want you to be more specific on those concessions that you were talking about. >> well, in terms of what john boehner has said is that he's

willing to look at revenue. he is not willing to look at tax rates. he understands that if we can bring more revenue into the federal government as the function of the growth in the economy, then we have to get the economy moving. and he's willing to look at a whole range of things, but he's not willing to say, let's raise taxes to get to revenue. there is a way forward, but it's not in raising taxes. >> arthel: all right you're up in. you're not power seat now, you're brokering the deal, what are your concessions and deal brakers? >> i want to follow up on where matt was because i agree with him 100% that the way to increase our gdp is not simply to increase revenue. it's actually trying to increase gdp through jobs. i think that the real concession that the right has to make is whether or not they're going to come back to the table with the same way that eric cantor and paul ryan put in the conversations and put john

boehner in the politically right direction or if they'll be humbled by this defeat and understand the american voters want a real deal here that is not going to be brokered on the backs of middle class americans. >> arthel: alexis, i have some info from the congressional budget office saying that increasing taxes on just the wealthier americans while sparing all other taxpayers from higher taxes would increase gdp by 1.3%, by the fourth quarter of next year, and create an additional 1.6 million new jobs. matt? >> yes. keep reading in that report. it says that if you extend the tax cuts for everybody, including the upper income earners who make more than 200,000 or 250 when they file jointly, that it would grow the economy at 1.5%. so what the president is basically saying, if he holds hostage these tax increases on wealthy people, what he's really saying is his economy that he oversees will grow less and have less job creation if what he wants is negotiated. so eventually when you're

president, you have to look at that and say, let's put politics aside. i'll be viewed in the rearview mirror as the better president if i can get this economy growing. >> arthel: so alexis, i think matt has a point that the president will be looked at in terms of his political legacy left on the table in the history books. but the congress, while they're pretty much in the dumps in terms of approval rating, it seems they would want to increase their popularity with the people as well. so do you -- how do you see this playing out in dc? >> i think it's interesting because this last week when we've been analyzing what happened in the election and where the key demographic changes are moving this country forward, it's even more incumbent upon those managing this fiscal cliff conversation think being how they're going to invest and middle class and working class americans and the education and the access toen opportunity and jobs that we all know are going to make us not only more whole as a country, but more competitive globally. and so any reduction in -- or any attempt to increase taxes on

the middle class and simply just focus on the 1% challenge or extending the bush tax cut is not going to be sufficient. >> arthel: not going to be sufficient. matt that, good news to you? let me make sure that i understand what you're saying. you're saying that that's fine, you should not raise the taxes on middle income people, but the 1%ers, those who are considered wealthy, then you should not increase their taxes and not let it expire for them as well? hang on, matt. i want to clarify. what did you say? >> what i was saying is that just focusing on -- i think what matt and boehner and some others on the right would like to us believe is that just by extending the bush tax cuts and focusing on tax cuts for so-called job creators is enough and we know that after 40 years of trickle down, that that does not work that. does not grow the economy. so what we need is to focus more on the investments that will not

only educate people and get people back to work and create opportunities, but also things that actually help people who have jobs get back to work, the investments -- >> arthel: forgive me, but i've got to give matt 20 seconds. go ahead. >> we just had an election. let's put the talking points aside. let's agree whether you're republican or democrat and you're sitting in that oval office, you've got to get this economy growing. it's an anemic economy. you're not going to grow it by raising taxes on any job creators. if you try raise it on high income earners, you're raising taxes on small businesses. that means his presidency is going to go down as a failure. i think he's smarter than that. i hope he reaches out and takes speaker boehner on his offer. >> arthel: it will take some reaching out on all sides. that's my two cents. matt, we want what's best for the country. alexis, thank you so much, good to see both of you. >> thanks. >> rick: all this talk about the fiscal cliff. what is it exactly?

jim angle has the details. >> the fiscal cliff was crafted to be so distasteful, officials would do any and everything to avoid it which obviously did not work. >> we go over it, we could be in a recession next year. it would decrease the size of the economy. >> the fiscal cliff is $440 billion of taxes and $200 billion of spending cuts. so going overt full fiscal cliff is a recipe for recession. there is no question about it. >> not the way mr. obama wants to begin his second term. the fiscal cliff and spending cuts will wreak havoc. spending cuts would take $1.2 trillion over ten years, 100 billion in the first year. >> these are big cuts, ten to 14% in programs, a quarter of the way through their fiscal year. that's bad policy and dangerous. >> the biggest stumbling block is tax increases. everyone wants to extend the bush tax cuts for those making less than 250,000 a year.

the president, however, wants to raise taxes on those making more, and add other taxes to boot. some analysts argue that would crush small businesses which create two-thirds of all jobs. >> the tax increases that president obama has fought for would actually increase taxes on small businesses by about $50 billion a year going forward. >> in 2010 when the economy was growing at 2.3%, president obama extended all the tax cuts, saying the economy was too weak to digest a tax increase. now the economy is growing at only 2%, but mr. obama is forging ahead and senator reid argues he got a mandate to do so. >> the president campaigned around the country saying we know what the problems are with this fiscal problem. we just need some revenue. that was the issue. >> the speaker of the house says increased revenues are fine, depending on where they come from. >> for the purposes of forging a bipartisan agreement that begins

o solve the problem, we're willing to accept new revenue under the right conditions. >> meaning new revenue from growth and reform, not tax increases. he points to the bipartisan 1986 reagan reforms which eliminated tax deductions in order to increase revenues and lower tax rates. the same approach given president obama by the bowles-simpson commission. in washington, jim angle, fox news. >> arthel: thanks for breaking that down. by the way, nearly a quarter million customers without power, nearly two weeks after hurricane sandy. we're going to talk to an expert about what rights consumers have when they're left in the dark

>> rick: bottom of the hour. day 12 without power for hundreds of thousands of storm

victims on long island, new york. some are protesting against the local utility company. new details on the f.b.i. investigation behind the resignation of c.i.a. director david petraeus. the agency reportedly started monitoring the general's e-mails after reports that his biographer, paula broadwell, may have had access to his personal account. conversations between petraeus and broadwell allegedly revealing the affair. a 4.3 quake hitting kentucky. it could be felt for miles around. residents in eight other states also report feeling the tremors. >> arthel: rick, residents aren't the only ones complaining. the governor of new york is slamming one power company responsible for tens of thousands of customers without power. it may be days until everyone is back on the grid. the question we're asking is what can consumers do in the wake of this type of catastrophe. ellen is here, the ceo and founding partner of lexeon.

>> thank you for having me. >> arthel: we know the people have lost so much. what can they do if they need legal advice? you're saying there is free legal advice available to them, correct? >> one resource set up is the new york state bar is offering a anyone with any questions affected by sandy a 30 minutes of free legal advice. that can be in person or over the phone. you can call them to set up a good time and you can discuss anything that's affecting you. so that could be your lease. it could be how to get additional copies of important documents like wills. it could be to figure out the nuances of your insurance policies. >> arthel: very good. we have the numbers there on the screen for the new york state bar. speaking of insurance, of course, it's good to read your insurance policies if you don't know if you can access it. a lot of times on-line these

days. homeowner insurance, and renters insurance. because some of them actually might compensate you if you're forced to go to a hotel. correct? >> correct. if your home had substantial damage, often hotel costs and meals out will be covered up to limits that will be specified on your policy. however, if you relocated due to the power outage, which we know in this cold weather is a massive inconvenience, often insurance companies do not cover that and renter insurance does not cover that. also a lot of us who went without power for days had freezers full of food spoil. so often your homeowners insurance and renters insurance may cover that. >> arthel: be careful with that one because sometimes if you have a deductible, and it may be the same amount as it would be for you to restock your fridge or your freezer and you want to be careful 'cause those insurance companies tally like how many times you submitted a claim. >> exactly.

your premium also go up and you'll end up buying those groceries over and over again. so you might want to hold back on that one. >> arthel: here is the biggy. most people do not have flood insurance. in fact, 18% of americans have flood insurance. so there is some relief, though, right? you're telling us it's coming through fema? >> yes. you're right there. most americans don't have flood insurance and we don't even realize that it's not covered under renters insurance and homeowners insurance. it's a separate policy. so if you are one of the majority of americans but does not have flood insurance and you had damage to your home or because of hurricane sandy, you can apply for assistan from fema and you can get it in a few different ways. they may give you a grant or loan. it's important to remember that the assistance from fema is going to be a lot lower than the assistance you would have got if you would flood insurance. so i would recommend prior to the next disaster, if you live in an area that's prone to

flooding -- >> arthel: such incomplement weather is happening and people are shocked by a lot of things happening by mother nature. again, that's fema.gov if you need to get information there. and then finally, if you're okay, your home is okay, your family is okay and you want to help, redcross.org is the place to go. >> yes. i'm sporting my red cross pin. you don't just have to donate money. you can give blankets and warm clothing. you can also volunteer your time. you can do all three if you want. >> arthel: it makes them feel good. they need the help and it makes you feel good, too. so it's a very good thing to do. always good to see you. thank you so much for bringing very important information tikritcal time for so many people of the you're the ceo and managing partner of your company. thank you. >> thank you. >> arthel: hey, rick. >> rick: hey, arthel.

switching gears, the obama administration is now trying to shoot down reports that one of its top aides has been involved in secret talks with iran. if these allegations are true president white house says they are not, that white house policy advisor valerie jarrett would be involved in those talks, it would be the first time the two nations have held formal one on one negotiations in more than 30 years. senior white house foreign affairs correspondent wendell goler has more from dc. >> both the white house and state department denied claims that president obama's senior advisor, valerie jarrett, is conducting back channel negotiations with iran over that country's nuclear program. fueled by israeli papers and iranian bloggers, some u.s. media outlets repeating the claims, that square was born in iran to american parents, though the family moved back to the country at the time she started elementary school. one white house official privately called the reports laughable. state department spokeswoman addressed the question on the record. >> there are no secret talks. what you see is what you get.

there are no valerie jarrett talks. >> she had no goals in negotiations with the iranians? >> correct. she has no role. >> jarrett is a close friend of the president and from chicago and her specialty is domestic policy and politics, this is the second time she's been accused of involvement in foreign policy. author in his book accused jarrett of convincing the president to call off an earlier attempt to get osama bin laden. the white house denied that, too. one official said this time, quote, she has no role in iran policy and doesn't want one. still, some are kleined to think -- inclined to think of maneuvering with his comment to russian leader. the administration denies reports of post election u.s. talks with iran and say talks with the u.n. city council won't resume until iran satisfies the inspection demands. at the state department, wendell

goler, fox news. >> arthel: when we come back, lessons from election night 2012. we break down what worked and what didn't this campaign season, as well as look ahead at what's next for the gop. >> rick: plus in the event of another natural disaster, you probably don't want to get stuck without one of these. coming up, "consumer reports" is here with a list of the best power generators on the market. stick around my doctor told me calcium is efficiently absorbed in small continuous amounts. citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. citracal slow release. campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. boproductivity up, costs down, thtime to market reduced...ll's.

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>> rick: days after the election, what's next in american politics, no shortage of ideas out there and some finger.ing in the ring party is expected. but what should each party learn from election 2012? susan is a professor of law and political science at usc, fox news contributor. we're so glad to have you in the studio here. >> it's so good not to see you guys in teeny boxes. everybody looks better in person. >> rick: you look great yourself. for those people smarting,

conservatives, republicans out there, you've been on the losing end. losing stinks. >> losing stinks. i can't think of anything good about losing, except you try to do it with dignity. and you try to do it with grace and frankly, i thought mitt romney was the model of dignity and grace on tuesday night and set a tone. i think it's unfortunate. i mean, at the end of the day, the miracle of democracy is that even when you lose, and even when you lose by just a little, you accept it and we move forward. i think richard nixon proved that back in 1960. >> rick: you lose with grace and hopefully you win with humility. did you see that from the president? >> well, the president said in advance -- i know i could win and i know i could lose. i think the president won with a recognition that, look, this

wasn't 2008. he doesn't have a democratic congress. if he's going to get anything done at all in the next four years, he's going to have to find a way to work with republicans and frankly, house republicans are going to have to find a way to work with him. >> rick: i asked folks on twitter and facebook to tell me what their sort of take aways were from the election, what lessons need to be learned or should be learned. a couple things, i'd love for you to respond. these are conservatives who answered my question. but carla said that she thinks republicans have to be willing to vote even if they aren't in favor of the actual candidate. republican candidate, that is. michael says that america has gone from a center right to a center left country. and dustin says he learned a campaign based on attacking your opponent can actually work. what do you think about those observations? >> the third one is absolutely true. i've been in politics for over 20 years. i've done five presidential campaigns. every campaign i've ever done, the polls will tell you and the

focus groups will tell you, people hate negative ads, and then they work. as for center right to center left, i actually don't believe that. i think we're a centrist country. i think that with the republicans are going to have to do is what we democrats had to do back in the late '80s, which is look in the mirror and say what changes do we have to make and how has the country changed? and frankly, the tent is going to have to get bigger. i remember lee atwater and others saying, years and years ago, we've got to have a bigger tent. i think you can't have a party that is not inclusive of hispanics, that is not inclusive of african-americans, that is not inclusive of gays and lesbians, and hope to win an election. >> rick: now that the president doesn't have to worry about more campaigning, does he have a duty to try to unite this country? do you think that he really has

to work at that? is that a part of his agenda? does it need to be over the next four years? there seems to be so much divisiveness in this country. >> it's awful. >> rick: is that the president's responsibility to try to help that? >> i think his mandate and maybe this is a little talking jew jet sue last week. i think his mandate is take this divided electorate, to take this divided electorate and take this divided house and try to heal it and with no campaigns in his future. frankly, no possibility of governing the way he did the first two years, which is basically all i need is the democrats and i can do it. he's going to make history and if he's going to move this country forward, he's got to unite us and frankly, that's why i said we're a center country. i think there is folks in ideologues on both sides and i respect them and i respect people who have deeply held

views. but the majority is in the middle. and the majority right now doesn't have a leader or they don't feel like they have a leader. so you have 50% voting one way and 48% voting the other way. he's got to heal a house divided. >> rick: susan, thank you so much. there are so many people who feel like their country is being taken away from them with these election results. but it's always good to get your perspective. you can read her column in newspapers all over the country every wednesday and friday. susan, thanks. >> thank you. >> arthel: great, great advice. you look even better in person. good to see you. we're here because unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of people have no power. we're talking about near hee two weeks since hurricane sandy hit. so these disasters can hit any time, any place, the time to prepare really is still now because i think a lot of people are thinking about what if i need a generator?

so coming up, "consumer reports" is going to tell us about the best car generators that god forbid something happens. stick around [ male announcer ] only polaris delivers the ultimate combination of power, suspension and agility. the only trail capable side-by sides, featuring the ultimate value, r 570. the only 4-passenge sport machines, led by the all-new rzr xp 4 and the undisputed king of high performance, rzr xp. razor sharp performance. only from polaris. get huge rebates on 2012's and low financing on all models during the polaris holiday sales event.

>> rick: hundreds of thousandsist still in the dark and cold. almost two weeks after hurricane sandy hit the east coast. >> arthel: it's a reminder that natural disasters can hit any time and any place and in fact, now is still the time to prepare. so we're taking a look at power generators, something needed so often after disasters. bob is here, he's the home and yard editor for "consumer reports." thank you for bringing three generators because it's crucial that people need to know about this stuff. >> you don't want to buy them when there is a storm coming. i learned that myself. all of the prices are marked up, i'm sure. >> exactly. this is the time to think ahead, especially 'cause we could be in for a tough winter and now is the time to go out and get a generator, get it professionally hooked up and be ready. >> arthel: how did you test these and which ones did you bring? >> basically we've got our top performers. this is the troy built here for about $900. and it was really, really great.

it powered delivery, met the wattage claims and good at meeting the surge wattage, like when the refrigerator, anything with a motor when it turns on and off and cycle the, you got a surge. this met it perfectly. also smooth power. >> rick: 7,000 watts. >> arthel: $900. >> $900. that's the beginning because what you really want to do is get a transfer switch. that's about another five to 900 installed, but that let's you actually hook it as you did right up to your home's electrical system. >> arthel: but a professional has to do that? >> rick: i didn't do it myself. >> yes, but at least you had it done and at that point you're powering the house instead of running extension cords. >> rick: you have to bring somebody in, a professional to install that. then you can decide what you want to power up and what you want to not. you're not going to be doing laundry or something on your generator, or maybe you are. >> you can if you go for this, a 10,000 watt generator, you can. in summer you can power a whole house, air conditioner, yes. but with these 7,000 watt units, they power most things.

>> rick: this is the best buy right here. >> best buy. only $670 for this one. this performs really as well as this troy bilt. the only thing it doesn't have is electric start. that's the wonderful thing about this. >> arthel: what does that mean? >> you got to pull the cord. the good things that these both have is low oil shut off. like an engine in your car, it requires motor oil. if the oil runs low, this shuts it off automatically. >> arthel: you don't burn it out. >> you would not want to do that. you would launch your engine and that's the heart of this. >> rick: down at thend you have the honda. that was really expensive. >> it's a pick. performed well, but $2,500. and really, this isn't giving you anything that these all give you for twice the money. >> rick: you're buying a honda. >> you're buying a honda, but i'll tell you what, generac, these are well built machines. you're buying a honda, but you're paying $2,500.

>> rick: i want to ask about gas because we only have a couple of seconds. they run on gas. what is this? >> this is one of the manufacturers. a stabilizer because gasoline can go bad and objection diodes. it preserves it up to a year. >> rick: bob, thanks so much. from "consumer reports" magazine, always good to see you. >> good to see you. >> arthel: thank you very much. stick around, fox report is up next. harris faulkner is coming up. thank you for joining us. [ "odd couple" theme plays ] humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify.

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